NEWS OF OUR CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES

Oak Tree Coffee House Anniversary

[posted 151011]

The Oak Tree Coffee House in Highwoods has just celebrated its first anniversary

All refreshments are Fairtrade produce and they also stock Fairtrade Arts and Crafts

Take a look at their website at http://www.oaktreecoffeehouse.org

Fairtrade Stalls in Colchester

[posted 031011]

Colchester Traders Fair ran two very successful stalls at recents events - the Town's famous Oyster Festival and the launch event for Colchester Black History Month

Oyster Festival in Castle Park:-

Black History Month launch at Colchester Arts Centre:-

Our heartfelt thanks to all who ran the stalls and helped raise awareness of Fairtrade arts and crafts

Fairtrade Fortnight promotion events

[posted 020611]

During Fairtrade Fortnight the Colchester “Fairtraders” were out and about in the town to promote awareness of Fairtrade and to encourage people to buy Fairtrade products.

On Saturday March 5th they held a “Big Brew” cafe at Colchester Baptist Church in Eld Lane.  Shoppers enjoyed Fairtrade coffee tea and homemade cakes while taking part in a quiz.

On Saturday March 12th there was an opportunity for shoppers at the Peartree Road Coop to sample a range of Fairtrade products, including chocolate, cakes, biscuits and fresh and dried fruits. There was an enthusiastic response and there was a run on the Fairtrade ginger cake, which many people enjoyed!

At the same time, we tried to find out whether shoppers at the Coop were aware of Fairtrade and whether they bought Fairtrade products on a regular basis. We found that 96% recognized the Fairtrade mark and 89% bought some Fairtrade products. 80% knew that buying Fairtrade helps the producers to provide essential services such as schools for their villages. However, only 48% knew that Colchester is a Fairtrade Town, so we will be working on this!

We were encouraged to see other examples of events in the town such as at the Oaktree café at Highwoods.

[Report from Don Manhire]

Traders Fair Shop Sale or Return boxes

[posted 190211]

Traders Fair offer Sale or Return boxes which give you a basic selection of items to sell in a Tuck shop or as a Fair Trade stall in your school, church or organisation. Products come already priced and listed and you return any unsold items after an agreed period with a cheque to pay for goods sold.

A box allows you to find out the most popular products with no risk of you losing money. If you are thinking of setting up a more permanent outlet we can help you with possible suppliers and websites. If you are unable to do your own buying we are happy to put together a Sale or Return box for you at any time on request.

Because we are a small volunteer group we do ask that you give us as at least 3 weeks notice, longer if possible. There is no charge for this service but we do have to ask you to collect and deliver back to us.

Please phone 01206 790677 if you are interested in the scheme

Survey of Town Centre Retail Businesses

[posted 291110]

During the summer of 2010 the Colchester Fair Trade Town Group conducted a survey of local small businesses in the town centre to explore the extent of their awareness and use of fairly traded products.

The questions covered two distinct areas. The first set of questions covered the awareness of general Fair Trade issues and Colchester’s Fair Trade Town status.

Of the 157 business approached:-

84% were familiar with the Fairtrade mark

12% knew that Colchester had become a Fair Trade town in 2006

35% were aware that the town would need to continue to promote Fair Trade to retain our Fair Trade Town status

77% were aware that supermarkets have “own brand” fairly traded products.

The second set of questions explored the business’ own use of fairly traded products in their provision of staff refreshments.

Of the 157 businesses approached:-

30% were using fairly traded products and 54% were not. The remaining businesses either made no internal provision for staff refreshments or were unaware of the products used.

Of those not currently using fairly traded products at least 68% might consider using such products in the future. About 10% of the others indicated that their refreshments were provided by their head office and therefore that they had no control on which products were purchased.

The group are grateful to the representatives of the businesses approached almost all of whom were willing to respond to the short set of questions in the survey.

Traders Fair at Lion Walk United Reform Church

[posted 191010]

Traders Fair, Colchester's independent fair trade shop, has now been in its new site for a year. If you have not found us yet we are in the foyer Of Lion Walk United Reformed Church. Check out the Traders Fair page at the Lion Walk Church website for information and pictures.

We are stocking more crafts.

The great success of the Fairtrade mark and public demand means that most supermarkets have a wide range of fairly traded goods on their shelves.

There is not the same wide commercial high street market for fair trade crafts owing to the fact that there is no recognised certification label at the moment.

Our craft stock comes from Traidcraft, Tearcraft (now trading as Created) and suppliers and importers registered with The British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS)

BAFTS shops like us buy from recognised importers committed to paying the producer a fair price and knowing that the workers involved receive a good living wage.

Craft producers are often family or small groups or women and a steady fair income makes a huge difference to their lives. They also receive advice on product development to increase access to markets and a commitment to long term relationships to provide stability and security.  So the more crafts we can sell the better.

We have some great Christmas presents.

We will do our best to supply what you want so please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you for your continued support which means better conditions for some of the most marginalised people in the world.

Presentation of the Fairtrade Town Certificate to the Deputy Mayor

[posted 171010]

As a new feature, the Fairtrade Foundation is now awarding a Certificate to all towns in the country that achieve Fairtrade Town status for the first time, or are renewing that status for another 2 years.

On Thursday, 23rd September 2010, members of the Colchester Fairtrade Town Steering Group met the Deputy Mayoress, Helen Chuah, in her Parlour at the Town Hall, to present the Certificate, which will be displayed in a prominent position within the Town Hall.

There was coverage of this event in both the “Essex County Standard” (17/09/10) and the “Evening Gazette” (27/09/10)

Survey of Town Centre Retail Businesses

[posted 171010]

One of the major activities of the Colchester Fairtrade Town Group this Autumn is the undertaking a of a comprehensive survey of retail and other businesses in the town centre.

The survey has two main aims :-

(a)  To find out how far people running these businesses are aware of Fairtrade in general, and the fact that Colchester has been a Fairtrade Town since 2006

(b)  To ascertain whether staff working in these businesses actually use Fairtrade products (coffee, tea and sugar) during their refreshment breaks.

Initial experience from the survey indicates that staff are generally willing to cooperate in answering 6 standard questions, which takes about half a minute to administer.

Restaurants and cafes have been left out of this survey, as it is intended to cover them in a subsequent survey.

Results from the first phase of this survey indicate that :-

(a)  Only 4% of interviewees realized that Colchester is a Fairtrade Town
(b)  Only 21% of businesses use Fairtrade products for staff refreshments
(c)  However, as many as 73% of interviewees recognized the Fairtrade logo, when it was shown to them.

When the survey of town centre businesses is completed later in the autumn, the Group intends to give consideration to extending the survey to businesses outside the town centre; for example, in business parks.

Renewal of Fairtrade Status for Colchester

[posted 050410]

Colchester Fairtraders are celebrating because Colchester’s status as a Fairtrade Town has been renewed by the Fairtrade Foundation on 24th March 2010.

The successful application for renewal was the result of a lot of hard work by different members of the Fairtrade Town Group, who have been collecting information about Fairtrade events in Colchester during the last two years. We have some very flattering feedback from the Foundation, who say that “it is fantastic to see the level of dedication towards the local campaign, which is still evidently growing strong with the steady support of the (District) Council” and “congratulations on an exceptional renewal application for Fairtrade status…. fantastic work ! ”

Our next renewal application will be due in March 2012…. So let’s take a deep breath, then off we go again ….

Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 in Colchester

[posted 050410]

The theme of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight was “The Big Swap”. The Fairtrade Town Group has been encouraging people to swap their usual purchases for fairly traded brands. We held two events on this theme….

1)  The Mayor's Fairtrade Tea Party

On March 12th, the Mayor of Colchester, Cllr. Henry Spyvee, hosted a “Big Tea Party” in the Mayoral Suite at Colchester Town Hall. Guests enjoyed Fairtrade tea, orange juice and biscuits, which the Council kindly sponsored. Participants included pupils, staff and parents from four junior schools (St. Andrew's Junior, Greenstead; Highwoods Primary; Broomgrove Junior; and St. Thomas More RC), plus ten Councillors and members of the Fairtrade Town Group – a lively gathering of about 50 people ! In addition, we welcomed special guests Winfred Gelli and Peter Jones from NGO Elikem, who are working in Ghanaian schools and local communities to gain Fairtrade accreditation for 10 of their farm products.

Among the highlights of the event were:-

• A display of work on the Fairtrade theme produced by pupils from the participating schools (see the accompanying photos below)
• A giant blow-up mug of tea, which was the focus for press photos of the mayor with the children from the schools
• A presentation by the Mayor of certificates to each child to mark their attendance at the event
• An exciting quiz to test how much participants knew about the production of tea

We have been encouraged by the very positive feedback following this event, and we were equally pleased to get coverage in the local paper.

Photos taken by Don and Joan Manhire ©, members of the Fairtrade Campaign Group:-

2)  Ubuntu Fairtrade Cola promotion at Waitrose supermarket

(“Ubuntu” is an ancient Zulu expression, which signifies that everybody depends on everyone else, and nobody is left wanting)

On March 27th, we organised a second “Big Swap” event at our local Waitrose supermarket in conjunction with a relative newcomer to Fairtrade, Ubuntu based in London.

Why Waitrose ?   It is at present the only major supermarket chain which stocks Ubuntu Cola at several of its outlets. Ubuntu itself is a 100% Fairtrade company, which guarantees to give 15% of its profits back to the sugar producers in Malawi and Zambia.

See the Ubuntu Cola website for further information

More than 150 customers sampled the Cola, and many of them liked the cane sugar flavour…. although half thought it was sweeter and half less sweet than their normal cola… no accounting for taste !

We were encouraged that several customers purchased more than one can of Ubuntu cola, and Waitrose had to re-stock their shelves !

The Waitrose management were very supportive, and both the Campaign Group and Catherine Brogan from Ubuntu thought this event was very successful.

Photos taken by David Lankshear ©, member of the Fairtrade Campaign Group:-